DOJ Sues Indiana Town for Not Allowing Man With HIV to Become a Cop
Although discrimination against people with HIV became illegal in 2008 as part of an amendment to the Americans With Disabilities Act, police departments have a history of violating the law.
Landwebs
The Justice Department is suing the town of Clarksville, Ind., alleging discrimination and violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act for revoking a job offer for a man applying to the police force after a state-required medical exam revealed he has HIV, reports the Washington Post. Even though the medical examiner noted that the man “was taking ‘anti-viral medications,” had “no long-term evidence of active disease” from his HIV, and had no other notable health issues, hiring authorities suggested the police chief should not hire the man because he did not meet “statewide medical standards” and that the man’s HIV status “posed a significant risk of substantial harm to the health and safety” of other officers and the public.
Prosecutors argue that the medical examiner did not include evidence for those opinions and showed no findings as to how the HIV would impede the man from his work as a police officer. Although discrimination against people with HIV became illegal in 2008 as part of an amendment to the Americans With Disabilities Act, police departments have a history of violating the law, with states like Louisiana, New York City and Atlanta paying out three large settlements in the last decade for similar infractions.
